Intelligent Energy’s Hydrogen Fuel Cells to Extend Drone Life to Hours

Who doesn’t like drones? Small, fun, able to fly and take photos, and filled to the brim with potential, they are both an ideal gift and the future of several industries. It’s too bad that their battery life is so short. With a maximum of 20 minutes of life, drones may be fun, but they’re not very practical. That is about to change, as this year’s CES will bring Intelligent Energy’s Hydrogen Fuel Cells to extend drone life to hours instead of minutes.

• Intelligent Energy currently holds over 1000 patents and has 1000 more pending, over 400 different fields
• One of the company’s development facilities is shared with NASA
• CES has been taking place every January in Las Vegas for the past 40 years
• CES is short for Consumer Technology Association
• The convention is hosting over 3,600 exhibiting companies each year

Intelligent Energy will present their new patent, the hydrogen fuel cells, at next year’s CES, in January. Their plan is to drastically reduce the charging times, as well as dramatically increase the battery lives of drones, by providing a much better alternative fuel source.

By combining an ultra-lightweight fuel cell stack with a battery, the company will offer not only an extended range for the drones, but also hours of battery life instead of the usual maximum of 20 minutes.

Not only that, but charging times will also be significantly reduced, from the 1 or 2 hours that are currently the norm, to a measly 1 or 2 minutes.

Julian Hughes, Group Business Development Director and Acting Managing Director for Intelligent Energy’s Consumer Electronics Division promises that their unveiling this January will open up a large variety of possibilities for drone manufacturers, as well as for business owners everywhere, basically providing a whole new branch on which company owners can focus.

With the new extended range and battery life, drones will be able to be used in high quality aerial photography, parcel delivery, agriculture and even dangerous search and rescue missions.

In the past, the company has worked with Boeing and Airbus for the development and improvement of their fuel cells, and has dedicated the past 14 months to test drones with a combination of their fuel cells and regular batteries.

The new technology will be displayed and presented this January, between the 5^th and the 9^th, at The Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas, during next year’s CES.

Image source: Wikimedia